about us

About

bloom yoga

Our studio was founded as a space for Yoga, Dance, Community and other forms of conscious movement in the Santa Ynez Valley.

We love Yoga and think it’s amazing for many reasons, AND we want you to experience the full breadth and range of how your body can move! We strive to offer cutting-edge classes taught by skilled instructors that weave together years of experience and expertise, and are designed to offer unique ways for your body to move and play!

At Bloom, you can experience several styles of Yoga, and play with various movement modalities which support your body, mind, and spirit.

We offer a variety of Classes on a weekly basis, and Workshops & Events to deepen your practice and knowledge of Yoga, Nia, wellness, and other forms of conscious movement.

Our goal is that you feel welcome, safe, and comfortable in our studio, which allows you to let loose, play and move in the ways YOUR body wants.

We are honored that you have chosen to visit our website, and invite you to come play, flow, and transform with us…

Bloom’s Founder

Julie Samuels-Metheany

When I opened Bloom Yoga in 2006, my intention was to create community and a safe space for exploring the mind body connection and freeing us up to be more authentic and vulnerable with each other. I wanted to create an atmosphere that was open, playful, and tolerant.

As a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, I have specialized in working with food, body image, and eating disorders for over 30 years. I have supported countless clients around their struggles to feel safe, free and connected to their bodies.

Movement is powerful. Over the years, I have had many students moved to tears, as well as spontaneous joy! I would like to think that Bloom is a place where people surprise themselves and feel something they don’t feel at other studios. My hope would be for people to carry that out into the world.

I started teaching aerobics in 1979 (the leg warmer days!) and have taught some form of movement ever since. As the times changed, and as my mind and spirit evolved also, I explored and taught different movement forms and styles.

In the process of healing and overcoming my own struggles with food and body image, I became interested in the science and psychology of nutrition. I became a dietitian in 1983, and in the process of working with clients, I realized most dieters had some level of eating disorder. At that point, I felt moved to get my Masters degree in Clinical Psychology and began my focused work in the eating disorder world in 1987. I worked at Inpatient and Outpatient eating disorder clinics and naturally ended up teaching the movement part of the program.

No matter what I was doing with my clinical skills I always taught movement at studios, Health Clubs, and eventually began to teach movement therapy at eating disorder workshops. My two skills were a beautiful marriage to help clients move back home, and into their bodies. I still have a private practice and teach groups and workshops as often as possible.